Chapter Thirty: The Struggle of Faith

Li Le was taken aback. She hurriedly covered Lie’s mouth, glanced nervously around, and whispered, “Don’t talk nonsense! Do you want to get your big sister killed? There are people everywhere right now! Come back with me, quickly!”

Lie, with her mouth suddenly covered, fumbled ineffectually at Li Le’s hand to pull it away. Her eyes spun anxiously, trying to signal Li Le to look toward the city gate.

Li Le turned her head and saw that a dozen or so strong men had, at some point, made their way through the dense crowd and now stood at the gate, knives in hand, beginning to divide up the game.

Among them was the man previously called “Rain” and also Brother Bai.

These must be the district chiefs, the main leaders of each territory. When the hunters returned, they would conduct the first allocation of the game, after which the captains would take the apportioned shares back to their respective districts for a second distribution.

This process was directly tied to the interests of each district and was therefore treated with great importance.

Li Le gritted her teeth. “You still have the mind to watch the game being divided? Do you even realize what you just said?”

She turned and saw a few sharp-eared people nearby, who seemed to have overheard part of their conversation and were now looking at them suspiciously.

Li Le wasted no time on explanations. She grabbed Lie and hurried away as though something were chasing her.

Lie, pulled along by her, seemed to realize something herself and gradually stopped resisting, obediently following Li Le back.

Li Le rushed home, barely noticing when the wind knocked back her hood, revealing her dark hair. Her face, however, was grim as she said, “Lie, the ‘Lamp Keeper’ is the chief priest of every city, a figure of utmost honor. How can you mention such a title so lightly? It’s fine for us to discuss it in private, but for you to say out loud that your big sister is the ‘Lamp Keeper’ in front of so many people—what if someone overheard…”

Li Le’s expression darkened further—not out of fear, but because the status of the ‘Lamp Keeper’ was so exalted, and more importantly, it was unique.

In short, each city could have only one ‘Lamp Keeper.’

Over the last couple of days, Li Le had done her best to learn about this world, and she’d gathered quite a bit: Cloud City was roughly divided into the Inner City, the Outer City, and the central Exchange.

On the surface, the thirteen districts seemed to have a hierarchy, but in reality, all district chiefs held equivalent status—none was officially above the others. It was more like a loosely allied federation.

But in truth, because of the people’s fervent worship of the Lighthouse, an independent and superior position had been born—the ‘Lamp Keeper.’

The people of this world saw the Lighthouse as the embodiment of their god, the vessel of their faith. This faith, forged in the crucible of survival and death, was the purest kind. Yet, as it could not be poured into the Lighthouse itself, it was placed upon the god’s chosen agent—the ‘Lamp Keeper.’

In this world shrouded by deadly mists and haunted by famine, the ‘Lamp Keeper’ lived at the city’s core, making critical decisions and holding authority even above the district chiefs.

It was clear what kind of influence the ‘Lamp Keeper’ wielded in a city.

Li Le had started scheming the moment she’d first heard of the ‘Lamp Keeper’ from Lie’s lips…

After all, she had one great advantage—she was a woman.

Yes, the ‘Lamp Keeper’ had to be female, and after coming of age, she would be selected through the ‘Ge Ceremony.’

Because of this, Li Le had been angry when Lie blurted out her identity; she didn’t want Lie to leak the information prematurely.

If word got out, it would introduce countless variables. Even if the people here wouldn’t dare move against an official ‘Lamp Keeper,’ who knew how much reverence they’d show a candidate…

Lie, dragged all the way home, realized her own recklessness. Her black eyes brimmed with guilt. “Big sister, I was too careless, mentioning it in front of so many people. I didn’t think it through…”

Li Le, after a stretch of hurried walking, looked back and saw those nearby had turned their attention to the game division at the gate. Fortunately, it seemed no one had caught Lie’s words clearly—there’d been no serious consequence.

Seeing Lie’s remorseful expression along the way, Li Le’s anger slowly faded.

After all, Lie had never seen the sun. To hear of such things so abruptly and lose composure was understandable.

Besides, she herself was partly to blame.

Li Le sighed. “Forget it, Lie. I shouldn’t have brought it up at that moment anyway. Luckily everyone was focused on the division of the game at the gate and didn’t pay attention to what we said. Otherwise, we might both have been sent to the ‘Cleansing Pool’…”

Lie nodded solemnly, her expression growing grave.

Li Le breathed a sigh of relief and no longer felt like exploring other parts of the city. She headed straight home.

…

Though Tuantuan had been brought along by Li Le, the little creature was dazed under the daytime illumination of the Lighthouse. By the time they reached the city gate, it nearly tumbled off Lie’s shoulder, and Li Le had to stuff it into her pocket.

It was still fast asleep.

Once home, Li Le gently took Tuantuan from her pocket and set it carefully on a mat before starting to plan her next move.

She checked her system interface, raised an eyebrow, then frowned:

[Remaining lifespan: 42 days (1008:56:37)]

“If I remember correctly, when I checked this morning, the countdown was at 37 days? Why did it suddenly increase so much?”

She tapped her right index finger on the table and murmured, “Could it be… because Lie believed the ‘Sun Faith’ I made up?”

She paused, her gaze shifting to the interface glowing bright blue. An answer gradually surfaced in her mind:

“Could it be that the faith of anyone who believes what I invent is credited to me…?”

The idea sounded absurd!

“No… it actually makes sense…” Li Le stared intently at the blue screen, half-talking to herself.

“In this world, only the Lighthouse exists. All faith belongs to the Lighthouse and the ‘Lamp Keeper’…”

“But if their faith shifted to the ‘Sun’… could I then, as the ‘Guardian of the Sun,’ gather faith myself…?”

Li Le lowered her hand involuntarily, sitting up straight on the stool, but a hint of wildness flashed in her eyes.